Remember last week I wrote you about Michael Lee Austin and Armand Morin’s dream to get Labor Pains on the Billboard?
Want to know what happened as a result of this maverick campaign using email, relationship, and an irresistible offer?
Drum roll please….
Check it out… Thanks to you… Michael Lee Austin hit #1 on Amazon.com for country music AND music overall… he even topped Bruce Springsteen!
That’s a first for our little industry. Many have hit #1 on Amazon in a category for a book… but Labor Pains hit #1 in MUSIC overall in Amazon.
Here’s a screen capture… courtesy of my friend Tracy Childers (I have to tell you more about him another time… GREAT guy)
Click the image to go to a full screen shot…
I got so many emails from folks who bought or just wanted to cheer Armand and Michael Lee on with this grass roots campaign.
(If you ordered a CD, you’ll be getting an email back from me shortly… and your bonus!)
This event inspired many… from Internet Marketers to musicians who noticed the power of marketing to get their music heard…
Hey… do you think Bruce Springsteen’s people know who Michael Lee Austin is now?
Do you think the industry professionals who monitor sales on Amazon for Billboard.com noticed Michael Lee?
You bet.
Why did this happen?
Armand Morin asked a few friends to spread the word and made an incredible offer… as well as put an innovative video and clips of Michael Lee’s songs online.
The power of email marketing along with the power of clever, relationship driven word of mouth buzz.
A few people who told their subscribers about this launched a buying wave on Amazon that took Michael Lee to the mainstream in a weekend.
That’s powerful… whether you are a musician or want to sell your ebook… this is the power of the new media.
Wouldn’t you know it, though… amid all the fun and praise, there was one gentleman who wrote me saying he was disgusted with the whole thing.
He said it was like ‘buying your way in’ and reminded him of radio stations getting bribe money to play certain songs.
Well, let me address that… because I welcome different opinions and appreciate the honest feedback.
I’ve got to throw my two cents in here, though, because I think this view of the promotion completely missed the point… and got it all backwards.
First of all, the overwhelming response was that this is fun, positive, and it was important to participate. Everyone who bought CD’s who wrote me a) liked the music b) knew someone who would and they wanted to support the dream.
The process was no different in principle than if PBS television has a fundraiser and asks for viewer support during the breaks in the show. If you haven’t seen a PBS fundraiser, it goes like this: They put on a special show, you watch… and several times throughout the show they ask and ask and ask for your pledge for support and promise to give you stuff (Tshirts, videos, etc.)…
In this case… Armand (and I) offered bonuses if you bought 1 or 2 cd’s… and the value far exceeds the cost of the CD’s plus shipping.
Second, remember, this whole process is voluntary… and the customer gets to decide whether to buy or not.
Compare that to the case where big fat cats pay off radio stations… that’s not voluntary and it’s the ESTABLISHMENT music industry controling who gets radio play, not the customer.
In contrast… Michael Lee’s launch to #1 at Amazon was the result of powerful Internet marketing… getting the word out to a lot of friends and supporters…
There is a BIG difference between coordinating a lot of people to take advantage of a limited offer so they buy a CD NOW as opposed to coercing radio stations to play a certain artist.
It just so happens that what Armand did is smarter and more grass roots than the big music establishment way of doing things… it’s better for the artist and the customer.
In case you don’t know the way things work in the music biz, unless you have someone to represent you and are willing to sell out to get a ‘contract’ with a major label… you’re never going to be heard from on the radio.
Don’t minimize how long and painful a road that can be… and many, many give up after waiting tables and earning tiddly winks while they try to hit the big time. Talk about disgusting… that’s heartbreak right there, folks.
Can you even imagine how many dreams have been dashed on that ‘traditional’ path?
All because the fat cats control who the customer gets to hear about.
See, with Armand’s way, the customer is determining who is number one.
The key difference that the handful of critics overlooked here is it was clever marketing, awareness, and enthusiasm… along with an irresitable offer… that drove sales… by individual consumers.
That’s buzz marketing… that’s concentrated promotion… and it works because of the power of email marketing and relationships that everyone involved has built up.
And it wouldn’t have worked if the music wasn’t good.
Michael Lee Austin’s songs are popular with people who have the CD, even with those who previously hadn’t considered country music ‘their kind of music’.
That’s because he can actually sing… and the lyrics are fun and different than the airbrushed formula stuff that you get from the fat cat recording artists (some of whom can’t sing outside of the studio).
You put Michael Lee on stage anywhere with a microphone and he’ll sing for you and there’s NO lip synch nonsense, either.
The bottom line here is value… there is true musical value to this offer… and that is what ulimately allowed the sales to happen.
If the music sucked… then no one, even friends, would put this much enthusiasm behind this launch.
I was willing to put my name on this because I know it was a win-win all around.
What really matters is that the country music customer now is aware of a new choice, a new musician who has real talent who hasn’t been through the corporate blender… someone who had a dream and found a way to achieve it with the help of some friends.
With the rise of email, MySpace.com, blogs, MP3 file sharing, online audio and video, there will be more and more new stars who will
emerge outside of the corporate music system… and that is good news for muscians and music lovers everywhere.
The lesson here is that Madison Avenue, Hollywood, the major television and cable TV stations, newspapers, and yes, the music industry all fear the Internet precisely because folks like Michael Lee can go around their ‘gatekeeper’ system and become stars in their own right… by getting the word out about their talent independently.
You have to understand just how much money and how many corporate butts are at stake here to understand why this is such a big deal. The establishment makes their money by playing gatekeeper.
And as marketers, we need to take note of the power email and relationships had in getting this new top seller to hit the charts…
This may make some people uncomfortable because it is sudden and powerful… and new… but next time YOU want to get yourself a big splash in the market place, no matter what your niche, you’ll appreciate knowing about this new way of doing things instead of suffering the slow hard way playing by the fat cat’s rules.
So this time… the new guy, the David, took a shot at Goliath and won.
What does this mean to you?
Just as Michael Lee took on the estabilishment and won, so it is with your dream of using the Internet in YOUR business.
Build a list, cultivate a relationship, and I swear to you that you’ll be able to leave the boss, the fat cats, the rat race, behind.
If Armand and Michael Lee can trump Bruce Springsteen on Amazon.com, the largest marketplace in the world in just one weekend because of one irresistible offer… what could YOU do?
Think about it. Dream about it.
Because that is what this is all about… reaching for your dreams.
This promotion is an inspiration for you and me… for anyone who wants to break free and wonders if it’s really possible.
You don’t need to stomp any fat cats… you just need a response to your mailings that brings in some sales.
You may be in a niche nobody every heard about… you may never even appear on Amazon… but you can experience your own breakthroughs, your own victories, and you don’t need to be a country star or a musician at all to do it.
Heck, I won’t let myself sing in public, let alone with a microphone… and yet I am living my dream with my family right now.
I’m going to be leaving soon on a summer road trip across the country that my wife and kids will never forget… and if I still had my old life, working for ‘the man’ this wouldn’t be possible.
Think about that… I didn’t have it, now I do.
The difference?
I learned how to market online using email and built relationships with subscribers and JV partners.
Now, if you have no idea how to build a list or develop that relationship, or have been struggling to get to the next level with your list… I’m not surprised. There is precious little training out there on how to do this in a step by step fashion…. until now… most people had to learn by trial and error. But…
I’ve got some good news…
I’m putting the finishing touches on something that will put the power of relationship marketing with email to a list right in YOUR hands.
I’ve been working on this for months and months… and I’m almost ready to tell you about it… because my mission is to show YOU how to do this… for YOUR business.
Stay tuned… I can’t wait to tell you all about it (and I will, soon).
Craig
